I came to Japan last year to study Japanese at a university in Tokyo. I had been to Japan once before coming to study, but didn't realize how readily accesible cigarettes were with vending machines on street corners. Nor was I aware how smoker friendly Japan is: smoking is hardly banned anywhere. On top of that, I met a wonderful man along the way, who happened to be a smoker. When I moved in with him, I discovered that his roommate was also a smoker, as were all of his friends that he gradually introduced me to. At first, I was very much against it. I even fought with my boyfriend over him quitting smoking. Out of guilt over one of our bigger fights, I decided to try smoking one of his cigarettes after he left for work. I hated it but decided to finish it off. From there, I would gradually have one or two cigarettes while he was away. I finally admitted to him that I would start smoking and was met with some resistence (he said he would quit smoking and that I shouldn't start), but I've continued to experiment with smoking. (He has not quit, either.) It's only been about 3 weeks since I've started, but I've enjoyed experimenting with different flavors and think I may want to branch out to cigars eventually.

When I was about 13 or 14, I'd been interested in smoking for quite a while, but I didn't have the confidence to try to buy them in a store. I did a paper round and one of the places I delivered to was a restaurant with a cigarette vending machine right near the door. It also sold a brand of cigarettes with really attractive packaging which made me even more interested in trying it! So one day I got the exact money together and bought some from the machine. My very own packet..I was so happy! I then found a very quiet location to smoke for the first time, which was very exciting. Although the first one or two didn't go well, I soon came to enjoy it..that's how I started!

From a very early age I knew I'd be a smoker. Lots of people around me smoked, whether they be family and friends or the general public. First puff: grampa's pipe. First nicotine buzz: 9 or 10, cigarette butt (eww). First whole cigarette inhaled, Kool King from stolen from my auntie @ 11. First pack of cigarettes: Marb lights menthol age 11. Now, I smoke the "ultimate cigarette" Newports. It's weird because I got started on menthols, smoked other nons for years, and now i smoke menthols again. White family, funny.

I live with my mom and I started smoking because she smokes.I knew when I was about 13 or 14 that I wanted to become a smoker.I always enjoyed breathing my mom's smoke because she smoked in the house and in the car and still does today.One day,I stole one of my mom's cigarettes and tried it when she was not at home.It didn't go so well,so I stopped.When I was 17 I had a friend who smoked Virginia Slims 120's and she let me try one. I really liked them because they were not as strong as my mom's cigarettes.I started to inhale it and that's when I knew I loved to smoke and that's the brand I currently smoke.Today,mom and I smoke together all the time.I love it!

I was fascinated by the way people smoke from my school days. I tried my first ciggie during my college days. I started to smoke 1 cig a week , then gradually increased to 1 per day and today after 7 years , it is 1 per every half and hour.

when I saw others looking so cool with a cigarette in their hand or in their mouth. Finally in college I decided to buy a pack to try. Did not get it right for a while, till I finally got it by observing carefully how others were doing it. All my friends were anti, so I kept it secret till I moved to another city, and began smoking openly. Cool and liberating! 1/2 ppd. Then got a job where everyone else was anti, so went underground again ... Finally changed job years later, where a few others smoke. Happy at last - and now I feel so proud that I have been increasing steadily and hitting 1 ppd. Can't wait to improve further! Love that wicked craving that rewards me later with the most satisfying inhales.

I hated them when I was 9 or so. My parents used to smoke while I was still eating my supper. The next year or so I became interested in cigarettes. I started having dreams about them. Always the same dream, I had it in my mouth, ready to light, and someone would interrupt. This went on many times in my dreams. Finally, I came home from school one day. I was a non-smoker before school. So, I came home from school one day, no one was home, except me and a cigarette under the kitchen table. I grabbed it, found some matches and went immediately out to the garage. Finally!!!!!!!!! I lit it up. It was a Winston 100. Yes, I finally was able to make my dream come true! It was great. I liked it. So, in the next few hours later, after dinner, I stole one from my mom's purse. She smoked Winston 100s. I remember this well, like it was yesterday. It is a really fascinating part of my life. To go from something I hated so much, to loving it so much, is really unbelievable, but only everyone at this website knows the feeling. So, later one that night, I stole some more. I ended that day being a smoker. Since that day, I became a sneak. Before school I would smoke in the bushes on the side of the house. After school, I smoked in the same spot where I hid on from that morning. Just hoping my mom didn't see me coming into the backyard and wondering what took me so long to come in the house. I was all too happy to take out the garbage at night because it was another chance to enjoy a cigarette! One time, my brother(seven years older than me) said to me, "Why is it taking you so long to take out the garbage"? lol If he only knew(that i was totally enjoying smoking MY cigarette)! I told him, why should I rush? None of my older brothers smoked. A lot of times, whenever I NEEDED to smoke, and I did, I hopped on my bike and rode to the schoolyard and smoked under a tree at the start of the wooded area. I did this for years to come. Sometimes, when we cooked out with my brother home(after my other two moved out), and didn't have matches, I would light the cigarette with the charcoal briquet and go hide in the bushes to smoke. No one ever caught me. However, one day I was smoking in that spot and my dad comes walking around the house. I was smoking, it was lit, and he walked right by and didn't even turn his head. Damn good thing! I am sure my mom would've let me smoke if she caught me, but she would've said don't let your father find out. I used to sneak out at night after everyone went to bed, tip toeing around the house trying not to make the floor squeak(and boy, did it squeak). I worried about my trip in before I snuck out, but didn't care, because I needed to smoke, and would worry about sneaking in the house afterwards. Also, both the front and back doors didn't close easy either. Then there was my brother's friend whose house was right next door, so I had to worry about that. There was a lot of pressure. What would happen if they caught me sneaking in and smelling my breath? What would I do? I would be caught redhanded. Sometimes in the Summer, I would put the fan in the window and it would vent it outside. When I went to bed before my mom, I made sure she wasn't going to come in and bother me, so I used to lock my door right after that and smoke. I used a plastic cup filled with water for an ashtray. When I started buying my own cigarettes, if I could get my hands on $3, I used to hide 5 or 6 packs in my desk shelve that was made out of paneling and 2X4s and attached to the wall. A panel (8 inches by 8 inches) of paneling used to open and I'd put them in there and slide it closed. No one suspected a thing! IT WAS A LOT OF FUN, IT REALLY WAS. Shame on my parents for keeping a great habit from me. I AM REALLY GLAD I STARTED! Now on the flipside of starting smoking, was the times I went away with the family to go visit relatives and not always being able to sneak away for a smoke, or even have one to begin with. I never carried them with me while with the family. Many times I suffered from withdrawals because I needed one so bad. The last thing I wanted to do was to get caught with cigs. So I went without. I WAS ADDICTED TO CIGARETTES and couldn't have one! It is torture. Try smoking a whole cigarette without inhaling. lol I loved it, but had to suffer many times because if my dad ever found out--oh boy. I never smoked around my cousins either. One time I was dying for one, and my cousins and I were walking through time, and I saw almost a whole cigarette just lying there on the ground(lit). I wanted it so bad, but I didn't want anyone to know I smoked, so I didn't grab it. My cousins used to stay at my house for the summers in 1974-1977. I didn't smoke in front of them. Turns out, the female cousin of mine started smoking when she turned 19. If I had known she was going to smoke, I would've smoked in front of her back then. Next time if I ever come back someday, I am going to smoke in front of everybody when I am between 5 and 16. Screw it, they don't like it, tough! For 39 years, constantly thinking about cigarettes, wanting, craving, even after I just had one is something all of us have to deal with. Better to have the cravings than to never have smoked at all, because non-smokers don't know what they are missing. I figure if I quit, all the effort into sneaking my smoking would be for nothing. Why should I quit when I see people enjoying them so much everyday. Why should I deprive myself? I take care of my body. When it wants a cigarette, I give it one. To this day, I really can't believe that I do smoke. I just love the feeling of it and love the damn things to death. I am going outside right now to check on the 2am weather and suck my brains out.

when i was 11, my mom smoked. dad quit years earlier. i used to hate the stuff. well i hated the smell. i was fasinated with smoking from very young. one summwr when i was 11, i was able to stay home alone for the firat time while my parents were at work. my mom always kept a pack of Doral gold on her at work and a pack at home. one summer day i found her open pack and was flooded with curiouisty. so i stole one and loved it. i knew then i wanted to smoke. for the next few weeks i would steal a whole pack and smoke about 5 a dat while they were at work. one day i lost track of time and my mom came home and caught my smoking outside by the pool. like most parents she got mad and had the "smoking is bad for you" lecture. after an hour long talk i told her how much i enjoyed smoking. after having a discussion with my dad, who didnt care, they both agreed to let me smoke as long as there was a few restrictions. i couldnt smoke out im public. only at the house or family gatherings. so my mom took me to the store and asked me what kind of cigarettes i wanted. i wanted marlboro reds because thats what my grandfather smoked. so she would buy me two packs a week. when i turned 16, i had to get a job to give her money for cigs because i was up to a pack a day by then. at 18, i started buying my own. then camel crushes came out and i switched to those and eventually switched to the newer camel crush bold because the blue pack didnt give me enough nicotibe to satisfy me. im now 22 yrs old. smoking close to 25-30 cigs a day.

I was 11 when I first tried smoking. I would sneak my moms whenever I got the chance but had no idea what I was doing. Didn't inhale and I probably smoked 1 every month. That all changed when I was 17. A couple of my firends started and I followed suit. I was shocked to learn that I did not properly inhale and once they tought me how I was hooked from day one. I will never forget my first craving either that was when I knew I just had to smoke.

I might have posted this before, but if I haven't here is my story. My older brother used to leave a pack of cigerettes laying around while he and every one else was gone, so I would take one from his pack, light it and puff on it, I did not know that you were supposed to inhale. One day we were all sitting around the kitchen table after lunch and my brother's girl friend was sitting accros the table from me smoking a cigerette. When she would take a drag her chest would rize as she inhaled ( was actually looking at her chest at the time) and when she exhaled smoke would come out several times. I realized then that you were supposed to breath the smoke in when you smoked. That after noon when every one was gone, I took a cigerette from a pack that was on the table, I already knew how to light it, lit the cigerette, took a big drag into my mouth and inhaled. As soon as the smoke went into my lungs it felt like my chest was paralized, no caugh, I just could not exhale, the room was spinning, and finally the paralized feeling stopped and I was able to exhale the smoke. After the dizzy went away I tried a smaller drag and inhaled that and the smoke went in fine but felt real strong in my lungs, still no caugh, just felt really good. After practicing with 2 or 3 cigerettes a day by the end of the week I could take a big drag and inhale it. The smoke felt sooo good in my lungs that I have smoked ever since. Now I have to direct hit or take multiple drags to get that feeling in my lungs, but it still feels great! I know this is long, but might be interesting to some one.

I tried a couple of cigarettes over a year ago at age 28 while I was camping with some buddies. I was very anti all my life but they coaxed me to give it a try. I didn't care for the first couple, but I strangely felt like I wanted to keep going. The next few I started to inhale and felt the most awesome buzz and dizziness I couldn't believe it. It felt so good I just wanted more. After smoking a few lights a day for a couple of weeks a buddy gave me a pack of Marlboro Reds and that did it. The intense cravings started soon after and now if I don't light up when I get them, as one person posted here once 'you'll be taught a lesson you will never forget' and that is so true. I now feel like climbing the walls unless I satisfy the cravings by inhaling that rich smoke into my lungs and holding it before exhaling to get the nicotine fix. I never thought I would start after being smoke free all my life, I hated second hand smoke, but it is so different when you smoke yourself.

I started smoking today. I just smoked my first cigarette and it was ok !
I am sorry for my english, I am not an english language native speaker, my vocabulary is limited.
I just want to tell you and to thnak you for this Smoking Feels Good, I come here often and you all encouraged me to start. I am 24 if taht matter...

When I started, I was ending the 8th grade and had JUST turned 14. Up to that point, I hadn't tried smoking, but had always been very curious about what drew people in so strongly. My grandfather smoked between 3 to 4 packs a day from the time he was like 12 (LOL, oh the 1940's!), so I always watched him smoke during holidays when we'd visit them. My mom used to smoke 2 packs a day, as well, but quit when she got married and wanted to get pregnant.

Anyways, the first cig I smoked was one I bummed from a friend after smoking some weed. I was curious, high, and young, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try something new. Immediately after lighting it up and taking a drag, I got super dizzy in a good way but had to sit down. It was kind of funny, but regardless I finished the cigarette to the filter (a marlboro red) without coughing, and found myself asking for another a half-hour later! From then on, I smoked at least a few cigs a day, but really picked up more when I was around 16. At that point, my parents had caught me smoking multiple times before, and it got to the point that I just asked if I could smoke in front of them. They were both mad, didn't want me to, and tried to convince me to quit, but after about 24 hours they came to the conclusion that it'd be pointless to not allow me to. It's not like I smoked a huge amount, just couldn't go more than 2 hours without a cig, so it was pretty evident what was up.

Now at 19, I smoke about a half a pack a day. When I was 16, I quickly began smoking about a pack to a pack and a half a day, but after moving out and living on my own with a tighter budget, I try to conserve. I basically have a cig right upon waking followed by another every hour and a half to two hours, which typically works out to around 10 a day. Don't ask me to count if I'm drinking, though!!!

I am 23 year old male.
to understand the smokers have started smoking 4 or 5 cigarettes a day for a week. I came from coughing and I liked the feeling of buzz and lightheadedness. the second week I tried to smoke 10 a day reds I liked the feeling. I smoked another two weeks 1ppd reds and felt that I liked the smoke in the lungs and relaxation. 1 month after each cigarette smoked 1ppd and made ​​me feel comfortable, well at ease. I think I have become addicted because I could not stay quit, but I liked having lost their freedom and feel a slave to smoking: I was a smoker!
I love to smoke every hour when I can and I convinced my gf to even begin her and other friends. I think it's wonderful to feel good, relaxed, calm down from stress and smoking to be together!
Thanks to the site and the reds! a happy smoker

Both of my parents smoked, so I was always around cigarettes growing up. Like a lot of people, started stealing them, mainly from my dad, who smoked Marlboro Reds. I didn't mucn cars for mom's Salems. First smoked when I was 14. Started working at a little league ball park concession stand, which sold cigarettes. It was pretty easy to steal a pack, go into the nearby woods, and smoke. I was hooked solid at 15 and was smoking a ppd by the time I was 16. Parents caught me around that time, gave me a lecture, etc, but in the end gave in to the fact that I was addicted. That was 35 years ago.

i suppose I wanted to start smoking from about the age of 14, seeing women smoke, it just looked so good, especially the ones that wore leather. Suppose that was where my smoking and leather fetish came from. also my mum was quite a heavy smoker and yeah she wore a black leather jacket.

One night in her friends' house this other woman came in, mid 40's, long blonde hair and wearing a 3/4 length black leather coat, inside I was hoping that she would reach into her pocket for cigarettes and light up. She did and offered me one, at 1st I refused saying I didnt smoke... but had been thinking about starting, she asked if I knew about the health risks and the fact I would end up addicted probably for life, I replied that I had, she then handed me her cigarette and said to take a drag, it tasted delicious, of course I didnt know how to inhale or anything. She then pushed her packet and lighter closer to me and said to go ahead, took one out and lit it, she then showed me how to inhale. Of course after my 1st I was a bit sick but I remember her putting her arm round me saying how that always happens 1st time and it will go once the body gets used to nicotine. Next day I went out and bought 20 superkings and a lighter and once mum had gone out I had one, not as sick this time and after a couple I stopped being sick. i was so determined to become a smoker and be addicted it didnt matter. Of course then I had to come out to mum, in mcdonalds one day after eating, she lit up and I had a massive craving, so I confessed that I had started smoking myself, she then asked if I needed one and handed me her packet, I replied I have my own and reached into my leather and pulled out my superkings before lighting up. She wasnt angry or anything but she could see I was hooked, she actually encouraged me to smoke when we were out visiting her friends, if a friend gave her a cigarette it was what about me, he is a smoker now too. It was great to be accepted as a nicotine slave

This post me be somewhat repetitive if you have read others, for that I apologise, but wanted to post our experience here for others to read; maybe someone will gain something from it and embark upon what is a wonderful pleasure.

My wife and I had both secretly been turned on by smokers, but had each denied and suppressed our feelings because of what I guess you would call societal norms or pressures. All that changed one night when, aided in some part by plenty of liquor, we revealed to each other our "shameful" smoking fetish.

It was on that night that we each had our first cigarette, together, probably thinking that it was going to be a once only experiment if you like. Well, how wrong we were ! What a feeling, and what a turn on for both of us - and the really fun part was that we were exploring this wonderful new world together. We each smoked several Marlboro Gold that night (after a late night semi drunken cab ride to the all night store to buy our first pack).

That weekend we decided that we'd continue; it was Cathy's idea that we should get ourselves completely addicted over time - the thought of something unseen controlling us was a major turn on. We started to encourage each other to smoke - she would send me a text thru the day asking how many I'd had, and either congratulate me if I'd had more than her, or encourage - actually demand - that I caught up to her if I hadn't.

Weekends especially were lots of fun, both offering each other cigarettes and encouraging each other to light up, or lighting 2 and handing 1 to the other (so sexy !) during the day or evening. I guess it took us about 2 weeks to become dependant. We tested ourselves one day - decided that we'd not have a cigarette when we got up, and see if we could actually go without them. We soon found out that we could not.

We're both now very happily addicted - we love the sharing that smoking brings us, the fun (sexual & other) that it's brought to our lives. Some of our friends have been shocked, but one of her friends has been able to admit that she's a closet smoker and happily feed her addiction when visiting.

We're both very happy that we've found this new pleasure, and wonder why it took us so long to start. We both love our addiction, and would absolutely recommend smoking to anyone who was thinking of starting.

Just registered to this site, glad to find others who enjoy and embrace smoking as much as I do. Anyway, figured I might as well share how I started.

Growing up I always said I would never smoke. Everybody in my family smoked except for my dad. My mom, grandmas, grandpa, aunts, uncles, sister, pretty much every cousin over the age of 15, they all smoked. And I hated the smell of it and wanted no part in it.

When I turned 15 I started drinking here and there. I was hanging out at a friends drinking and one of them had grape swisher sweets. They offered me one, and immediately I declined. However, once I smelled it I could not resist, and lit one up. I was amazed at how great it felt to pull in the smoke and blow it out. I never inhaled them, but I loved the taste.

Then one day when I was 16 years old, me and a few of my buddies were sitting around the fire drinking. However this night I was all out of cigarillos and wasn't in any condition to drive to get more, so I asked my friends if they had any. I really just wanted something to puff on while I drank. None of them had any, but one friend offered me a cigarette, it was a Marlboro Menthol.

I took the cigarette, despite always telling myself growing up that I wouldn't ever smoke. I lit it up, and it was pretty good. I wasn't sure how exactly to inhale, I thought I was inhaling but turns out I wasn't, I was just kinda sucking the smoke to the back of my mouth. I liked it though, it wasn't much different than puffing on a cigarillo.

So about a week later I decided that smoking wasn't all that bad. I wanted to try it again, only do it right this time. So I went and bought a pack of cigarettes. I went through a drive through in my town which didn't ID. This is the place that me, my friends, and pretty much every other high schooler used to buy alcohol and smokes. My first pack was a pack of Camel Lights.

I decided to go with Camel Lights because I wanted to start on a light cig, but I really like the look of a brown filter and Camel is the only brand I know that has a brown filter on a light cig. I smoked the first 2 cigs of the pack still not knowing what the heck I was doing. I didn't inhale(I thought I was at the time but I wasn't) and I didn't get a buzz or anything, but I enjoyed it.

Then after closely watching my uncle smoke one day while he was at my house, I noticed his smoke came out with force when he exhaled, and in a lighter bodied stream. This is when I realized I wasn't inhaling correctly as my smoke came out slow and in a thick body.

So I went home later and my parents were gone. So I went out back in the woods and lit up a Camel Light. I took a massive drag inhaled fully and deeply. Instantly I got light headed, dizzy, and so weak in the knees that I actually had to grab the tree beside me because I felt like I might collapse....I loved it.

So I finished out that cig, taking smaller drags and only inhaling shallow. Then each day after that I smoked a few cigs. I didn't have much time to smoke, only right after school when my parents weren't home and at night when I would sit out on my roof after my parents fell asleep and light up. But by my second pack I could smoke without coughing, inhaling got smoother, and I only got light headed if I power smoked or took a huge drag really deep.

Still today I only smoke about a half a pack a day, I smoke mostly Camel Blues 99's, Camel Blues are just near and dear to my heart since they are the first smoke I bought. I also mix in Camel Turkish Royals here and there, and Marlboro Smooths if I'm in a menthol mood or sick.

Like some of you who have already commented above, I going to be repeating part of my story told in another thread (if anyone's interested, "Your First Pack" in the "General" category). But I'll focus on other facts about that first cigarette in this thread.

I was 13, and it was the summer between eighth and ninth grades. I had been seriously thinking about smoking for more than a year, even dreamed about it! While I was offered a cigarette when I was still 12, I didn't accept it, mainly because there were too many people around. Incidentally, afterwards I was sorry I didn't accept it, as I really wanted to. Filching a cigarette wasn't an option, nobody in my immediate family smoked, so if I was going to finally try it, it would either have to be offered to me or I would have to buy a pack myself. Besides, even if I had the opportunity to steal one, I don't think I would have. Too much a good Catholic boy afraid of committing a mortal sin! After months of wanting to get a pack, I finally worked up the nerve one day to go to a local supermarket, headed straight to one of the vending machines opposite the registers, all while hoping that nobody would stop me, and bought a pack of FF Salem Kings. Well, I didn't get caught. I think my heart must have been up in my throat until after I exited the store. Across the street from that store was a very large park, so I found a secluded place to open the pack and light up. Now I was really on my own in all of this, so I didn't even know how to inhale. So I just puffed on it, and enjoyed the minty cool flavor of the Salem cigarette. I didn't get sick at all, I guess because I wasn't yet inhaling. It probably took me about a week to finish that pack, usually going to the park to smoke, either by myself or with a friend. The attic at home was another option, as the door to the attic stairs was in my bedroom, so I wasn't likely to get caught while up there, though it was a risk. Once I even went to the park during the middle of the night to have a smoke under the stars. I even remember why I chose Salem. There was a Salem ad from 1978 featuring a handsome "thirty-ish" man, with the message "People ask me if I really enjoy smoking. I do. Because my cigarette is Salem. Isn't it time you enjoyed Salem?" The image and the message obviously worked, though I think that it only influenced my choice of brand.

That wasn't the start of smoking on a regular basis. I was definitely attracted to smoking, but for more than a year, it was on-again, off-again. Get a pack and take a week to smoke it, then not smoke for a week or two, and then repeat the process over again. At some point while I was experimenting, I finally figured out how to inhale. I think I had already developed some tolerance to smoking, even from puffing, that when I finally inhaled there was no sick feeling. I fact, I remember once I starting inhaling I was freakin' loving it! That was probably when I resolved that I was meant to be a smoker, it was just a matter of finding the right time in which to graduate to smoking every day, and more than just a few cigarettes a day. The right time finally came right after I turned 15, in 1979. Two changes in my life gave me the opportunity. I was now in high school (my high school was grades 10-12). It was a large high school with three buildings, connected on one side by a single long hall. Many students found it faster to exit the buildings from the opposite side and go outside to get between buildings when changing classes. That, of course, provided a ten minute "window" to smoke a cigarette while outside. Just as importantly, my older sister arranged for me to get a part-time job, starting right after my 15th birthday. Now I was earning my own money, so I could afford to buy a pack every two days, and the place even had a cigarette vending machine. Nobody ever questioned me about taking smoking breaks at work, so long as I did my job. So now I was truly a smoker, smoking half a pack a day, though now I was favoring FF Newports, because unlike Salems, they were available in a crush-proof box. I knew my mother suspected that I was smoking. From time to time she was subjecting me to occasional breath tests, but the menthol masked my breath enough that she wasn't sure. I really think that my parents had just taken a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude about it. By now I was routinely buying my cigarettes at a convenience store, and even though the legal smoking age was 16, I was never refused or even asked for ID. Those were more lenient times!

You will notice my username is "Winston Smoker Man." I spent two years smoking only menthol cigarettes, then when I was 17 I switched to regular, non-menthol cigarettes, though always full-flavor. The first I tried was FF Marlboro, both Kings and 100s, but finally settled into FF Winston Kings as my usual brand while still in my senior year of high school. Once I was off to university, my smoking increased and peaked at 30 a day by the time I was 19. Today, I still really enjoy smoking, but about six years ago I cut back to around 16 cigarettes a day (edit: shortly after originally posting this in April 2013, I returned to smoking a pack per day, and have stayed at a ppd). I didn't intend this story to be so long-winded. I originally only intended to tell of my first cigarette. But I enjoyed reliving the memories. Now I got to light up and enjoy a smoke!

I was not really interested in smoking per se even though both parents were smokers. I was over at a friends place, he lived on a farm but it was not really worked. We went into the barn and he pulled out a pack a Camels he had nipped from his dad. He gave me one and we lit up and puffed but did not inhale. I was around 12 at the time.

I liked the taste of the smoke. Did this with other kids in the area never inhaling. Then one day I nipped some of my mother's Salems and went into the woods and this time I inhaled. It felt good in my lungs but made me very dizzy. I guess I over did it.

Then a few weeks later I was with another friend and we were puffing on some Winstons and decided to try inhaling again. This time it did not make me dizzy at all. It just felt really, really good. The smoke in my lungs and the nicotine. Just all felt great.

Started to buy my own but hid it from my parents. Smoked 3 or 4 a day when I could. Had to quit for a year while the family traveled but when we settled in Florida I nipped a Winston from a neighbor's mom (my mom had given it up and my father had recently passed away). Went down the street and lit up and that inhale was simply awesome.

I then decided to smoke from then on. This was the mid 1960s and buying cigarettes from vending machines was no problem. I was 15 then and have been smoking ever since.

I grew up with parents that were smokers. Mother has since quit but father still smokes. I was fascinated with smoking from an early age and always knew I'd try it to see what it was about. I started stealing my folks smokes at 12. Started on my own with no peer pressure...I just wanted to see what it was like. Well, I liked it even though it made me sick at first. I kept at it and learned how to smoke and went from stealing single cigarettes to whole packs from my folks. Was smoking daily at 14 and buying my own cigarettes.

I just decided I would see what the fuss was about so I went out and bought myself a pack of marlboro lights and smoked one didnt really like the taste then a few weeks later i decided to try it again now 3 years later instead of a pack every two months I am at a pack every 4-5 days and increasing. I cant see why I was so anti before I love it

When I was 8 my 18 year old brother who joined the navy came home on leave. As he walked into the house both he and my dad were smoking. My parents, both smokers themselves, didn't seem to mind. So one day I asked David if I could try. Sure he said and from then on I smoked a few times a day. I even started inhaling. When dad caught me he got really angry and forbid me to smoke until I was much older. When David left I started taking my parents cigarettes and continued to smoke until I was about 12 when I switched to dipping.

When I was 16 and the only non-smoker in the house, my siblings had moved out, I really wanted to pick up smoking again. So one night when dad and I were in the car together and he lit up one of his reds I asked if I could have a cigarette. He just said, "is dipping not enough for you any more?" and gave me a cigarette and a light. I surprised both him and me by inhaling deeply and really enjoying my "first" cigarette. We stopped at the park and had a talk. He gave me the speech, you know it is bad for you and you will get addicted he said. I just want to try to see if I like smoking dad. You, mom, David, Ian and Sarah (my smoking siblings) all seem to enjoy smoking. We smoked a couple more and I really felt I could get used to this. Well let me talk to your mother he said and we will see what you think tomorrow.

The next morning at breakfast dad asked me if I wanted a cigarette or had had enough yesterday. As I took a cigarette and lit up I said I really liked smoking. Dad got me a pack of mom's Marlboro Lights and a lighter and told me it would be better if I started with them.

I happily continued smoking and by the time I graduated high school smoked at least a pack a day. In college I switched to reds and now 5 years later am a 2 pack a day smoker myself

My father smokes. One day after we went to a NASCAR race, we came home and, he randomly said, here, have one, and he handed me a cig. Lit it up and it didn't make me cough. When he left to go to work i had one of my packs still in my jacket. So i smoked the whole thing in two days. Love it. still 12 btw

You're lucky to have a cool dad. I started on my own at 12 with Marlboro Reds. 12 is a pretty common age to get started. I didn't cough either, probably because both my parents smoked. What brand are you smoking?

I remember at the time I thought 12 was young to smoke, and it is, but I think that's when many of us destined to become smokers start learning the ropes. I didn't jump in head first at 12, rather a few smokes here and there. It wasn't until I was a couple years older that I started daily smoking. It's hard for me to pinpoint exactly when that happened, but I do know that when I started high school I was smoking daily, and that'd put my age at 14. If I remember correctly, I was starting to buy my own at that time, which was possible back when I started. From 12-14 while in middle school I remember playing sick and staying home and smoking all day though. I'd steal a pack of my parents smokes and light up as soon as they'd leave for work.

Like I said, for those of us that were destined to become smokers I think 12 is a common age to start. We were the early adopters since it wasn't peer pressure enticing us. I'd venture to say that at that age we started in our own because we wanted to smoke. Most of us at that age did not start with friends because there aren't many smokers at that young age.